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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Is Iraq the Next "Failed State" in the Middle East?

    This week's brief takeover of the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone may have been political theater, but it was part of a real-life drama that's deadly serious and may or may not have a happy ending for Sunnis, Shia, Kurds — or the United States.

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    By Warren Olney • May 5, 2016 • 33m Listen

    This week's brief takeover of the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone may have been political theater, but it was part of a real-life drama that's deadly serious and may or may not have a happy ending for Sunnis, Shia, Kurds — or the United States. American casualties will likely rise in the fight against ISIS -- and in support of a government too weak to hold the country together. We look at the struggle to prevent a bad situation from growing worse.

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Iraq Teeters on the Brink
    1. 1:48FDA Issues Sweeping, New Rules on E-Cigarettes
    2. 8:37Is Iraq the Next "Failed State" in the Middle East?You’re reading this
    3. 42:51Keeping the Home and Homeland Safe
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • KCRW placeholder

      Paul von Zielbauer

      Co-founder of Geezer magazine, former producer for To the Point and Which Way LA?; former reporter for the New York Times

    • KCRW placeholder

      Katie Cooper

      Producer, 'One year Later'

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Jenny Hamel

      KCRW

    • KCRW placeholder

      Tim Arango

      Los Angeles correspondent for the New York Times

    • KCRW placeholder

      Mowaffak al-Rubaie

      Iraqi statesman

    • KCRW placeholder

      Derek Harvey

      US Army (retired)

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Iraq Teeters on the Brink
    1. 1:48FDA Issues Sweeping, New Rules on E-Cigarettes
    2. 8:37Is Iraq the Next "Failed State" in the Middle East?You’re reading this
    3. 42:51Keeping the Home and Homeland Safe
    Back to To the Point